Never Give Up!
by intricate designs
Summary: Kish struggles with his feelings. A new mew, Cheri, is found. Deep Blue starts a sinsister plan that just might work. Love is found and lost. Despite all this, they learn something: never give up. Rated T for safety. 14th chapter, Crystal, up!
1. Found a girl

Ichigo ran in the cold rain, splashing through the puddles on the sidewalk. She held a pink umbrella above her head and held her pink purse. She was cold, and tired, but she had to make it to Café Mew Mew on time or else Ryou might dock her pay. Just then, Ichigo passed the park and saw a girl lying on a bench, injured.

All thoughts of being late rushed out of her mind and Ichigo ran over to the girl. She was unconscious, and there were many wounds on her. The girl had long ebony black hair, and was wearing a blue shirt and jeans. She also looked about Ichigo's age, and there was a dark red purse next to her.

_It must be hers,_ Ichigo thought.

Ichigo opened the purse and took a cell phone, some gum, a few pictures and then finally, a wallet. She opened the wallet and saw a few membership cards.

Cheri Ariyoshi, 13.

So she was her age… Ichigo put back everything into the red purse.

Ichigo whipped out her cell phone and dialed Ryou.

"Hey Shirogane! It's me, Ichigo. I need you to help me."

"Why? You're late!"

"I know that! But I found a girl in the park, and she's like dying! I can't just leave her here! Her name's Cheri Ariyoshi."

"K. I'll be there right away."

_Please hurry Ryou. She looks like she's going to die. _

---

Ten minutes later, Ryou, Lettuce, and Pudding rushed out of Ryou's black car.

Lettuce looked strickened.

"She looks terrible! We got to get her to the hospital."

"No chance. These wounds were made by Chimera Anima. We won't be able to explain them to the doctors there. We'll take her to Café Mew Mew. Keiichiro used to be a doctor."

"Okay." The three girls said.

"Where's the others?" Ichigo asked.

"They haven't came to work yet." Ryou answered.

The four of them lifted the girl as gently as possible and put her in the car.

---

"Keiichiro, is she going to be all right? I don't want her to die!" Pudding asked, worried.

"Don't worry, Pudding. She'll be perfectly fine in a few days."

Pudding let out a sigh of relief. Then…

"Yay na no da! I'll have a new friend na no da! NA NO DA!"

---

Mint and Zakuro finally got to the café. The only person there was Lettuce. No costumers because of the heavy rain.

"Sorry we're late!" Mint called out, "What did we miss?"

---

"Ichigo!"

"Yes?"

"Come over here! I looked up Amaya Ariyoshi."

Ichigo walked over to Ryou's office. It was dark, and there was a computer with a lot of expensive looking equipment.

"What did you find?"

"It turns out that Cheri Ariyoshi lives in Toyko, near you, actually. She's half Chinese, a quarter Japanese and a quarter American. She's is in 7th grade and is 13 years old. Her dad died in a car crash and her mom died giving birth to her. Amaya lives with her grandma and owns one dog."

"Poor girl… Wait! How did you get all this information?"

"I hacked into the government records." Ryou said sheepishly.

"….."


	2. Urgent Meeting

**Thanks to Mew Butterfly being the only one to review! -Hands her a cookie-**

**Come on people, please review! I really would like to know what you think of this! **

**Disclaimer: If I owned Tokyo Mew Mew then I would be sueing 4kids instead of writing this fanfic.**

---

Lettuce sat on a black stool, next to Cheri, who was lying on the bed. She sighed. The black haired girl was still sleeping, and had been for three days already. Lettuce was getting very worried. She pulled on one of her braids nervously.

Just then, Ryou walked in.

"Has she stirred?"

"No." Lettuce sighed. Ryou sensed Lettuce's worry.

"Listen, Lettuce, don't worry that much about her. She's healing faster then normal."

"But she's been sleeping for three days!"

"Yes, but even so, any other person would take a month to heal." Ryou explained.

He suddenly thought of something.

"I wonder…." He turned abruptly.

"I think I should test her blood."

Ryou, murmuring under his breath, ran down all the steps and down to the basement.

----

Ryou examined the small vial of blood taken from Cheri's body. He quickly spilled a drop on a tray, then slid the tray into a machine.

On his large computer, a small part of the DNA popped up.

He quickly clicked and typed, telling the computer to search for abnormalities from normal human DNA.

"No…" He said under his breath in horror when he saw the results. Frantically, he searched in the drawers in the room. Then, he searched in his secret safe. It was disguised as the CD drive of merely another computer. Hidden in plain sight.

The CD drive was hinged unnoticeably, and Ryou opened it. Inside was a small CD.

"Thank goodness. We're still one step ahead."

---

"There's a meeting right now?" Ichigo asked, surprised.

"Yeah. Shirogane said it was very urgent. Could you tell Pudding for me? She's in the park." Lettuce told Ichigo.

"All right, I'll get to the Café as soon as possible."

"Bye."

"See you there." Ichigo clicked her pink cell phone closed, and then grabbed her purse. She ran down the steps from her room.

"Mom, Dad, my boss needs me to help make cakes for a party. See ya later!" Ichigo shouted as she ran out the door.

"Okay, bye honey!" Her mom said.

---

Mint was annoyed. It was a Sunday, and, most importantly, her afternoon tea! Shirogane had the nerve to interrupt it with a meeting.

_Oh well. Might as well go._ She thought as she called for her butler to clear away the tea tray.

---

Zakuro climbed into her limo silently and the chauffer drove off to Café Mew Mew.

---

Ichigo stopped at the park, out of breath. There she saw Pudding, on top of a large ball, twirling plates. There was a large crowd in front of her. Pudding, high on top of the ball, spotted Ichigo.

"Ichigo onee-chan! Have you come to watch Pudding perform na no da?" Pudding said, while delicately balancing a ball on her head.

"Sorry Pudding, but Shirogane-san needs us for a meeting."

"Okay na no da!" Pudding jumped off her ball and put all the stuff away in her small backpack.

The two of them walked to Café Mew Mew together.

---

All the mew mews were finally at the Café.

"The meeting is in Cheri's room." Lettuce told them.

"Why?"

"I'm not sure…. Shirogane just told me to tell you."

"All right then."

The girls climbed up the steps to Cheri's room.

---

The five girls gathered in Cheri's room with Keiiricho and Ryou.

"Girls, I have good news and bad news." He took a deep breath.

"Tell us the bad news first." Lettuce said.

"The aliens have been trying to make a mew."

Everyone gasped.

"So it's Cheri?" Ichigo said, wide eyed.

"I'm afraid it's so. It appears that the aliens had been trying to get her to transform by attacking her."

"Then what's the good news?" Zakuro asked.

"Well, the good news for us is that we have her here right now. And that the aliens didn't steal the information about how to make the power pendants. That's why she was so badly hurt. She couldn't transform."

"They just left her there? Isn't that idiotic of them?" Mint asked.

"I don't think all of them were attacking her. It was probably just Tart. He would be the only one who would leave her out there." Pudding gasped.

"Taru-taru did this to her na no da?"

"I'm afraid so."

"We have to stop them from making more mews!"

Ryou chuckled.

"I'm pretty sure that'll take care of itself." Ichigo frowned.

"How?"

"You see, when Keiiricho and I started the Mew project, we scanned the city for many, many years trying to find you five. We found there was only a few people in all of Tokyo whose DNA was compatible with any type of genes. Not all of these people were still young, like you girls. The aliens got very, very lucky to find Cheri."

"What animal is she fused with?" Mint questioned.

Ryou paled.

"That's why this meeting is so urgent. The animal, or animals, I should say, are very special."

"What are they?" Lettuce persisted.

"Cheri is fused with a dragon and an alien."

---

**So what do you think? I'll explain how Cheri can be fused with a dragon and an alien in later chapters. Please reveiw! It only takes a couple of reviews to make me happy! **

**All you have to do is press that little button that says reveiw and tell me how you feel. **


	3. Explanation

**Once again, almost no one reviewed. :( **

**Thanks JustDifferent202 and Mew Butterfly for reveiwing! -hands them chocolate chip cookie- **

**It really means a lot to me if people review... ****Well, onward with the story! **

* * *

"_Cheri is fused with a dragon and an alien."_

Gasps of astonishment filled the small bedroom.

"How is that possible?!?"

"What will her transformation look like na no da?"

"Dragons are mythical."

"They put _alien _genes in her?"

"Shhh! Cheri's sleeping!"

"Why did they do this to Cheri?"

"Where do you get dragon DNA?!?"

"If she has alien genes, isn't she one of _them_?"

Ryou tried to calm them down.

"I'll explain, I'll explain!!"

The girls stopped talking.

"Okay, I'm not sure how the aliens had dragon genes, but I have a theory."

"Years ago, Keiiricho discovered that many mythical creatures were once real. These animals exist long before humans, long before dinosaurs. These creatures, such as dragons and unicorns, were existent during the time of when the aliens lived on earth. Keiiricho was first studying mythical animals when he found this out."

Keiiricho spoke up.

"I was astonished at this fact. But I became even more intrigued about the aliens. The more I researched about the aliens, the more I was interested. Soon, I forgot about the mythical creatures in my pursuit of aliens."

Ryou began talking again.

"Since the dragons and aliens were existent at the same time, the aliens are very likely to have possess some of the dragon's DNA. Dragons, however, are now extinct. There is no way possible dragons also went with them to the aliens' planet, since the dragons were massive in size. Since the aliens will want Cheri to side with them, they injected some of their genes in her."

"Also, by putting dragon genes in her, they made her very powerful. We put endangered animal genes in the five of you because endangered animals will fight hard to stay alive and protect the planet. Her DNA will fight very hard to just exist."

"So what will her transformation look like?" Mint asked.

"I don't think she'll have an alien/dragon mew form. It is very likely she will three forms; human, alien and dragon mew. An alien's DNA is very different from animals, just like how human DNA is different from animals. Their genes will not be merged with the dragons'."

There was moment of silence.

"Wow, Shirogane-san! You really are a genius na no da!"

* * *

After discussing about Cheri and answering everyone's questions, their talking finally woke Cheri up. 

She lifted her head, and said sleepily, "Where am I?"

Everyone stopped talking and looked at Cheri.

"You're at the Mew Mew Café."

"You've finally woken up!"

"It's been three days!"

"We rescued you from the aliens!"

"You looked like you were dying!"

Cheri looked extremely confused.

"What?"

Ichigo started to introduce them.

"I'm Ichigo Momomiya, that's Mint Aizawa, she's Lettuce Midorikawa, this is Pudding Fong, that's Zakuro Fujiwara, the blond's Ryou Shirogane, and he's Keiiricho Akasaka."

"I'm Cheri Ariyoshi."

Ryou started to explain to her.

"We found you on a bench in the park nearby. You were very badly hurt, so we brought you here and treated your wounds. Can you tell us what happened? "

Cheri was silent for a second. Then, her memories came rushing back. Realization dawned upon her, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"I-It's kinda personal…"

"Please, we need to know what happened. It's very important to us, and we'll explain everything we can later."

Cheri got up and sat on the bed. She looked down, tears dripping off her face.

_Poor girl… Whatever she went through must have been traumatic, _Lettuce thought.

Zakuro handed her a tissue, and Cheri wiped her face.

"Well… If it's really that important…"

* * *

**School starts tomorrow for me , so I might not update that often... I already got half of the next chapter typed up. It was going to go in this chapter, but it was really long, and I had a lot more to type. I have to go to sleep soon, and there is no way I can finish it. Plus I usually go over my fanfics... There's just so much to explain with the story, so I split up the chapter. Plus really, only two people reviewed, so it didn't seem like people really liked my story.**

**Hoped you liked this chapter! Please, please, please review! **

**-intricate designs**


	4. First Kiss

**This chapter is longer then the others. It's Cheri's explaination to the mews, Ryou and Keiiricho what happened to her. **

**Thanks, Escune for submitting a fantastic review!**

**Thanks, Not So Sweet Dream for reviewing every chapter! **

**It means a lot to me when people review! In the last chapter I said school was going to make me take longer with writing, but I was very intrigued with this chapter and wrote it in a streak of inspiration.**

**In case you're wondering, what happened in Cheri is in** normal text**, what she's telling the mews is in bold, and what she's thinking is in **_italics_

* * *

I sat on a tree, idly swinging my legs. There wasn't much to do in the house, and I spent most of the time in the woods behind it. 

Then, I heard a noise. It was defiantly a _someone_, not a something. I could hear the footsteps.

Squinting my eyes in the sliver of sunlight in my eyes, I turned around, but no one was there.

_How odd…. _

Suddenly, someone said, "Yo." The voice was right in my ear, and I was so startled I fell off the tree backwards.

Fear raced through my heart as I fell toward the ground. I closed my eyes in fright. Suddenly, I felt the cushion of arms instead of the ground.

"Hey. Are you okay?" The same voice said. I opened my eyes, and saw a green haired boy with weird, large ears holding me. His eyes were golden. He set me down.

"I-I guess…" I just sat there on the ground, as the pounding of my heart slowly stopped pounding.

"**I was sitting on a tree, and then I fell off when someone surprised me. Then, the person caught me. It was a guy with green hair and big ears." **

**The mews shared glances with each other, but no one interrupted. **

The boy helped me up. He was wearing rather odd clothes.

"Thanks for catching me." I said.

"No problem. My name's Kish. What's yours?"

"I'm Cheri. W-What are you?" I asked. Quickly, I was ashamed of myself. That was such a nosy question, and he had just saved me!

Kish saw my embarrassment, and shrugged.

"I'm an alien."

_WHAT?!? _

"Really?" A look of disbelief crossed my face.

"Yeah." He shrugged again.

"**He told me his name was Kish, and that he was an alien." **

"Seriously?"

"Well, yeah. See? I can fly." He jumped up and started hovering in the air.

I stared in shock, though it all made perfect sense. I didn't see him when I was in the tree because he flew up behind me. His large ears, golden eyes, and odd clothing were what aliens wore. And that was how he caught me when I fell; he flew.

"O-Okay…"

"Well, not really. My species inhabited the earth long before humans. We left since it grew so cold and ruthless. And now, we're back. So technically, I'm not an alien."

"Wow... Wait, WE? There's more of you?"

"Yeah. On my planet, anyway. On earth there's only 3 of us."

"Oh…" I couldn't quite believe it. I was talking to someone from another PLANET!

"**Kish told me about his planet and the aliens." **

"Wow… So why are you here then?"

"Just looking around where my ancestors use to live. You know, stuff like that."

I nodded, even though I really didn't know.

"**He told me he was just looking around." **

**Ryou's face hardened. **

I believed him.

"So why were you in a tree?" Kish asked.

"Uh, no reason really. I like climbing trees. No one really comes here and bothers me."

"Cool."

"I live right over there, with my grandma." I pointed at the house some distance away, just barely hidden by a few trees.

"Thanks again, for saving me. I don't know what I would have done if I had fallen and broke something… No one would have found me here."

"It's really not that big of a deal…"

"Thanks anyway." I smiled at Kish.

He sort of blushed, then turned away.

"So you want to come over to my house?"

"Yeah, sure."

I started to walk in the direction of my house. Kish stopped me.

"Wha-" He picked me up, kind of hugging me. Then, I felt a weird feeling, and closed my eyes. I opened them when the feeling stopped. I was at the doorstep of my house!

"T-That's amazing!" I whispered, shocked.

Kish smirked. He started to reach for the knob of the door. I stopped him.

"You know, my grandma is old… If she sees you-an **ALIEN**-then she might have a heart attack or something…"

"Oh…" Realization dawned upon him.

"Let's go through the back door." I grabbed his hand, then lead him to the door at the side of the house. I blushed when I realized I was holding his hand. It was warm.

I let go of his hand, opened the white door and poked my head in. There was no one there.

_Grandma must be up in her room. _

I walked through the door, and motioned for Kish to follow. The door lead into the kitchen. I noticed there was a note on the counter.

_Cheri, _

_I went to the bakery. _

_I'll be back around six. _

_There's some food in the_

_refrigerator if you get hungry._

_Grandma _

I smiled. Grandma was 75 and she still went to work. The bakery was where she worked. She made some of the best cakes and pies in Tokyo.

"So Kish, are you hungry? There's some cake still left. My grandma made it." I asked him, peering in the refrigerator.

"Sure."

I took the cake out, cut two slices and put them on plates.

"Is lemonade okay?" As I opened a drawer and took out forks.

"What's that?"

"It's a drink. Here, you'll like it." I took out two glasses, poured lemonade in them, then gave one to Kish. He sat down on one of the chairs by the counter.

He hesitantly sipped it.

"It's good!" He said, surprised. I sat down next to him.

"Now try some cake!" I said to him.

He forked a small piece of cake and ate it.

"You're grandma makes really great cakes!" Kish said, his face lighting up.

"**I took him to my house, and we just talked." **

"Yeah..." I trailed off. I took a bit of the cake. Sweet sugary goodness filled my senses.

We ate the cake in a comfortable silence while I thought.

When we were done, I took the plates, forks and glasses and washed them in the sink. Kish sat there, watching me.

"You know, sometimes I'm afraid for my grandma. People her age could die anytime." I whispered.

"I understand." Kish said quietly in my ear, putting his hands around me and hugging me from behind.

"On my planet the weather is so harsh, many of my family have already died."

"I'm so sorry."

"Yeah."

He just stood there behind me for a while, hugging me.

---

I sighed. Grandma was coming home in an hour or so, and Kish already had to leave.

"Bye Kish," I said.

"Bye." He vanished.

I leaned against the wall. Kish was such a nice person. He seemed so understanding. I sighed.

_Maybe…. Maybe I like him. Just a little bit. _

I brushed the thought away.

Even if I liked him, just a little bit, Kish probably wouldn't like me back, anyway. I hadn't ever been on a date; much less had a first kiss. I guessed it was because I was shy, especially about my feelings. While I did have friends who were boys, I never did have a boyfriend. If normal boys didn't like me, why would a really cute alien like a person like me?

I closed my eyes.

_Oh well. It doesn't really matter. I barely know Kish, anyways. He's an alien. He's from another planet. _

I sat there, with my eyes closed for a while.

_How do I know if I can trust him? I mean, he is an alien. All those TV shows always have aliens taking over the planet._

Then, I suddenly could feel the pressure of lips touching mine. My eyes fluttered open. It was Kish! He didn't stop kissing me.

We stood there for a while, just kissing.

Then he pulled away.

"Goodnight, Cheri." He smirked, then disappeared

My knees gave way, and soon I was leaning against the brick wall, sitting.

I sat there for a long time.

Then I smiled.

_My first kiss._

* * *

**Some of you might be thinking that Kish is being out of character. I'll explain that later. It's all part of the story. **

**Towards the end, others of you might think that I forgot about Cheri telling the mews, Keiiricho and Ryou about what happened. Well, I didn't. Amaya's omitting that part because she doesn't want them to know about the kiss. It's a bit personal to her, just like she said in the last chapter. It just goes to show how much what happened is different from what people say.**

**I hoped you liked the chapter! I worked hard on it. Please review!**


	5. Forest

**Thanks, Here's Looking At You, Not so sweet dream, Braids and Kira for reveiwing! **

**Waah! I wrote this whole chapter out, then when I saved it on word. I went back to edit it on the site and made a lot of changes. Then, when I saved it, it turned out that the site logged me out! I was so mad! After that, my internet stopped working for 2 days, so I didn't get to update it.**

**Oh, and I changed Amaya's name. It's now Cheri, to go with the whole concept of food names.**

**Here's Looking At You: If you read closely, I said that Cheri had Chimera Anima attack wounds on her, and that she wouldn't be able to explain them to the hospital. **

**Hope you enjoy the chapter! Remember to review!**

* * *

After the first encounter, Kish and I met many times more. 

We always met in the woods behind my house. We would talk, and sometimes I asked him about what it was like on his planet. Kish told me about all the things aliens could do, and I was intrigued.

I told Kish about what it was like with my friends, what school was, and such. He always seemed intrested, and sometimes when he thought I wasn't looking, wistful.

**"He came back, many times. We just talked together." **

Sometimes we went deeper into the forest, and climbed trees. Kish would always help me when I got stuck on a branch.

**"Kish seemed so kind and helpful." **

**Another tear slid down Cheri's cheek. **

Sometimes he would abruptly leave, saying he had business to take care of.

I always thought this was odd, but I didn't pry.

_I... I think I'm falling in love with him. _

School seemed more like a burden, more and more. I always couldn't wait to see Kish.

**"I-I-I think I fell in love with him." Cheri's voice almost couldn't be heard. **

**Ichigo's eyes widened. **

**"I guess that's why it hurt so much when he betrayed me." **

One day, I was out in the forest again. Not to look for Kish. He had said that he had business to attend to. I just wanted to breath in the fresh air.

Then, suddenly, a giant boom came from one direction.

Instincts told me to run away, as soon as I could. But my mind told me that fear wouldn't get me anywhere, so I ran in the direction of the sound.

The more I ran to the sound, the harder it got to breath. The forest seemed to be moving. The trees seemed to be growing and growing.

**"One day, I was in the forest and the trees started to move. I went in the direction this huge boom came from."**

_Am I hallucinating? _

Then, I sat down behind a tree, exhausted.

All of a sudden I heard someone's voice.

"Now only you are left, Mew Ichigo!"

It was a childish voice, I could tell, even though I was very faint.

_The Mews? Aren't those the girls on t.v.? _

_"_Don't push yourself. Even standing is difficult for you, right?"

**"It was hard to breathe and all the trees were growing really fast. When I reached the sound, I couldn't go back because it was so hard to breathe. I saw the mews." **

**Everyone exchanged glances.**

I could see a small pink figure with cat ears and a tail coughing.

_It's so hard to breathe... _

"Hey, just go ahead and fall down already!" The voice taunted.

With a great effort, I lifted my head up and saw that it seemed to be an alien! Just like Kish, except it had redish hair, and seemed like a child. Sitting next to him was a much older alien, with purple hair.

The pink mew stood up and shouted, "Stop messing with me! You destroy people's dreams! You're who steal their future! You won't get the Mew Aqua!"

I was shocked.

_The aliens are that bad? Was Kish lying to me? They have to be aliens. I've never seen another boy wear pigtails. _

"I won't obey you, even at the cost of my own life!" Mew Ichigo yelled.

"Stop being cocky already!" The redhead shouted back.

Mew Ichigo jumped up, with some type of pinkish weapon.

_What is that thing she's holding? It looks like a heart with a bell in the middle._

My head started to get fuzzy, but I tried to focus.

_I feel so dizzy. _

The redhead alien, mad, pointed his finger at the pink mew and shouted, "Get her, Chimera Taiboku!"

Suddenly, roots shot out of what seemed at first to be a tree. With surprise I noticed that four other mews were hanging from that tree.

**"You guys are the mews, aren't you?" Cheri said softly. **

**Nobody answered her. **

**"I saw you, Ichigo. You were fighting. I was there, behind a tree." **

**Ichigo gasped.**

Mew Ichigo blocked them with her weapon.

_What's going on? _

Another group of roots shot at her.

_She's going to get hit! She's not fast enough! _

All of a sudden, a gray cat with a green bandana jumped in front of her. It was carrying pills on it's back. It sliced the roots with it's claws, then a blue light shown.

After the light was gone, I was surprised to see that a blond boy catch the girl.

"Thanks, Ryou."

_So the blond's name is Ryou. What the hell is going on? _

Another boy, also blond, appeared out of nowhere. He looked like an alien! However, he was dressed with a blue robe and had a long sword.

**"Some kind of mutant tree thing attacked you. Two guys showed up and saved you."**

**Ichigo nodded.**

The first blond who caught the girl said something to her. Mew Ichigo just stared in shock.

The other alien/boy in blue just said, "I will protect you."

_This has GOT to be some weird freakish dream. _

I coughed. The air was getting thicker and harder to breathe.

Mew Ichigo took a pill from the blond boy and swallowed it.

The blue-robed blond boy/alien cut the other mews free from the mutant tree.

_I thought he was an alien! Why is he helping the mews then? _

The normal blond guy ran to the other mews and handed them each pills.

They all seemed to breathe easier after swallowing them.

_I could sure use one of those..._

The Ryou person seemed to be the boss of all of them.

"Everyone's alright. Counter attack!" He told them. The five mews nodded.

"In your dreams!" The alien child said angrily, "Go, Chimera Taiboku!"

Chimera Taiboku, the mutant tree, suddenly started to move. It's eyes glowed red.

_I feel so faint..._

My vision blurred. Then, suddenly, the red glow faded from it's eyes.

_It's getting easier to breathe._

The redhead boy's face shone with disbelief.

"The Mew Aqua has disappeared!"

"What? The energy's gone?" Purple-haired alien said.

"The energy of a Mew Aqua can't be used up that easily!" Ryou said.

"Then that is a fake Mew Aqua!" The small monkey girl exclaimed.

_What is this Mew Aqua stuff? Does it make it hard to breathe or something?_

"Okay, everyone, let's go!" Ichigo said.

"Darn! You're not going to lose, Chimera Taiboku!" The redhead's face contorted in anger.

Roots lashed out, but the green mew jumped up.

"Ribbon Lettuce Rush!" Water sliced the roots into little pieces.

"Ribbon Zakuro Spear!" A purple light whipped around the trunk of Chimera Taiboku.

The purple mew pulled the whip tightly, and then shouted, "Everyone!"

_Wow! They're powerful! _

White angel wings appeared around the blue mew as she twirled, holding her bow and arrow.

"Ribbon Mint Echo!" She let go of the shining blue arrow.

"Alright! I'll leave it to you!" Mew Ichigo shouted at the monkey mew.

"Ribbon Pudding Ring Inferno!" Yellow light blasted out of the tamborine.

Mew Ichigo was covered in pink light. She spun in the air, and rainbow beams followed her.

"Ribbon Strawberry Surprise!" The rainbow beams shot at the mutant tree. It exploded.

**"You defeated the aliens and the mutant tree."**

The two aliens looked at each other, nodded, and flew away.

In my direction.

_Damn! _

I quickly ran as quietly as I could.

**"But when the aliens flew away, they went in my direction." **

**Lettuce gasped. **

**Cheri smiled thinly through her tears. **

**"They didn't see me. Not at first, anyway." **

**

* * *

**

Chapter based off of Tokyo Mew Mew episode 44, The City Turns Into A Forest! - What Protects Ichgio's Smile.

I made a few changes and such to the episode. Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter!

Please review!


	6. Betrayal

**Thanks, Miranda D, Not So Sweet Dream, Bluepuccagirl, Trenna, and Here's Looking at You for reviewing! I'm really happy you did, and it helps with my stories. **

**If you just skip all this and go straight to the story, I really don't mind. It's just me rambling on and on.**

**Like I said, school is making me update a lot slower. I'm still trying to write a lot of chapters, though. I really should update my other fanfics. Right now I feel kinda horrible because I haven't written a new chapter for those ones in weeks. It's just that I like Tokyo Mew Mew a lot, and my other fanfics aren't in that category. So you might not see me updating a whole lot because I want to work on my other fanfics. **

**Thanks again to the reviewers. Hope you like the chapter! On with the story!**

* * *

**"But when the aliens flew away, they went in my direction." **

**Lettuce gasped. **

**Cheri smiled thinly through her tears. **

**"They didn't see me. Not at first, anyway." **

My heart pounded, so hard I was sure they could hear me.

The two aliens stopped. The air started to ripple next to them.

_What's happening? _

Kish suddenly appeared where the air had been rippling.

_No! _

Before, I still hadn't been truly convinced that Kish was bad like the other aliens. Sure, they had been wreaking havoc, but that hadn't meant that Kish was included. Now, however, seeing Kish with them almost certainly meant that he was involved.

_Please Kish! Tell them off or something! _

"**I hid and heard the aliens talking," Cheri said softly.**

"You failed the mission, Tart." Kish smirked.

"Shut up, Kish!" said an obviously annoyed redhead now called Tart.

"And how is your mission going?" Purple-haired said. I stared in shock. I couldn't believe it.

_K-Kish is part of this! _

"Well, I think the girl is falling for me. I'm not quite sure, though." Kish frowned slightly.

_What?!? Does he mean me? _

"What? You don't like her?" Tart said, trying to get him back, "Just pretend she's the old Ichigo hag."

_Who's Ichigo?_

Kish narrowed his eyes at Tart.

"Cheri Ariyoshi must be convinced to join us," said the oldest alien, ignoring both of

them.

"Alright, alright, Pai. I convince her soon," Kish replied.

Tart smiled wickedly.

"And if that doesn't work, we'll just kill her dear old grandma."

_They are talking about me!_

I was stunned. Kish had never liked me, even though I had liked him. He had been using me the whole time. It was all a plan.

I couldn't believe how evil the little pigtailed boy was. My grandma was the only person I had really had left. All my other relatives lived halfway around the world, in Europe. And they didn't even know I existed.

_Why? Why do they need to convince me? This doesn't make sense!_

Kish had betrayed me, even though I didn't know why. That, already, was enough to make me want to cry my heart out.

All the days we spent together had been fake. He was there for the mission, the plan, whatever that was. Kish had been using me all along. And I had been dumb enough to believe in him.

"**The aliens were talking about me. I found out that Kish had been using me all along." Tears again started to leak from her eyes.**

**Lettuce felt pity welling up for Cheri. **

Boys had never liked me at school, and that itself should have been a warning. I should have been smarter then to fall into Kish's trap. I had been a idiot to fall in love with him.

Heck, it really surprised me how much it hurt.

I never should have gotten my hopes up, not even at that first kiss. Come to think of it, that kiss had probably been part of the scheme to get me to join them and help them destroy the world, or whatever they wanted me to do. It didn't really matter to me right now. But that fact that he had just completely broken my heart into a million little pieces, yeah. That mattered a lot.

Suddenly, there was nothing more I wanted to do then to just run away from all this. My heart was heavy, and I felt like sobbing. I took a couple of steps back.

_Crack._ A branch snapped loudly under my foot.

_Oh kami! Please don't look over here. Please don't look over here. Please don't… _

All heads turned in my direction.

_Damn! _

Suddenly, the purple one named Pai disappeared.

"Well well well, who do we have here?" a voice said behind me. I froze.

The other alien and Kish also teleported, and appeared on each side of me.

I looked at them slowly. Kish looked at me, expressionless. The redhead smirked.

_Think, Cheri, think._

I felt like crying, but I couldn't. I felt like screaming, but I couldn't. I felt like giving up to them, but I very well couldn't do that, either.

So I did the one thing I could.

"**I sprinted as fast as I could into the forest when they found me."**

* * *

**Yes, I know it's rather short. It just seemed like a great place to stop, though. I promise a longer chapter next time.**

**Thanks for reading! Remember to review!**


	7. Matters of the Mind

**Thanks to Trenna, Here's Looking at You, MewMew Spotted-Dick and Moonlight-Kris for reviewing! **

**Thanks Here's Looking at You for your great advice. It helps a lot. **

**Anyway, I'm not stressed out anymore. All my teachers are really nice, and I've been having the greatest time with my friends. And I'm glad that one of my fanfics finally has more then 20 reviews. **

**Hope you like the chappie!**

* * *

"**I sprinted as fast as I could into the forest when they found me."**

I ran and I ran, trying hard to stop tears from spilling over.

Not even bothering to look where I was going, I tripped on a tree root. Sounds of whooshing, the aliens flying, came in fast from behind me.

My jeans tore slightly, but I wasn't concentrating on such trivial matters. I scrambled up, dirt on my hands, and started to run again. I could hear the aliens right behind me.

Just then, I heard the oldest one say something.

" Kish, take her spirit out, then we'll put it back in later. That way she can't run."

_What? They can do that? _

My heart pounded as I ran even faster. I had never been a fast runner in my life. In fact, I was almost always one of the slowest at school. This time, however, I was running for my life. Adrenaline rushed through me.

Suddenly, Kish appeared in front of me. He raised his hand toward me. I skid to a stop and tried to run the other way.

A choking feeling started to begin in my chest.

_No! _

I tried to struggle away and run, but somehow I was stuck there.

My eyes started to get droopy as I felt my energy sucked out of my body. I could barely see Pai and Tart appear beside Kish.

I screamed as I felt myself being torn from my body. I saw Kish flinch just before my eyes closed.

**"Kish took out my soul from me."**

**"He did that to me once na no da," Pudding said, "When I just met Ichigo onii-sama!"**

**Ichigo nodded, confiriming it.**

**Cheri looked surprised. She hadn't expected that. Throughout the whole thing, she had expected someone to shout out that Cheri had to go to a therapist.**

And then, as only a person getting their spirit sucked out could, I fainted.

* * *

I felt very odd, floating in nothingness. Everything seemed hazy. 

_What's happening? _

Although I could move, I sensed I could never get out of this black nothingness unless someone released me from it.

_What happened? _

All my memories were so hazy, as if they had happened a long, long time ago. I couldn't recall why I was so sad. I tentively reached out a hand, and caught a tear running down my face.

_Why am I here?_

I tried desperatly to remember. Just one word surfaced onto the top of my mind.

_Kish? _

More tears came rolling down. I frowned, confused.

_What is that?_

I had never heard of anything called Kish. That could be because I couldn't remember anything, but I wasn't sure. Maybe it was a type of food.

_Naah. Why would I cry about that? _

_Maybe a thing? Something I lost?_

_No... Not that many tears about something I lost. Unless it was really important. _

I concentrated again. This time, I had more success. Two words came up in my mind.

_Betrayal? Heartbroken? _

That gave me a better idea of why I was so sad. Being betrayed and heartbroken would obviously justify crying.

_Maybe Kish is a person... _

Then it hit me. All my memories came flowing back to me in the darkness. I started to uncontrollably sob.

I sat down, even though there was ground, and put my head in my arms, on my legs. Tears again started to leak from my eyes.

Nobody was there to see me break down and cry. That made me feel a little better. Those stupid aliens would never get a chance to see my tears.

I was still confused through all the sadness, but I just pushed it aside for now.

After a long while and there were no more tears left, I felt just a tiny bit better.

Then, suddenly, the atmosphere in the darkness changed.

Oh sure, it was still dark. I hadn't realized it before, but I wasn't breathing before.

It seemed as if an unknown irritancy was lifted. Now it was much better.

_I think I'm back in my body. _

I felt pain for a moment, though it seemed dulled.

Suddenly, a giant flash startled me, and everything turned a deep dark red, almost black.

Flashs of white sparkled everywhere, as if there were stars. Just then, a black silhouette started to form.

It had batlike wings, except much bigger. The whole mysterious animal was much bigger then me.

Suddenly, an inkling of what it was occured to me.

_It's a dragon! _

My best friend, Kiwi, had been crazy about them. In school she had shown them to me almost daily, and she drew them constantly. Once she had showed me a book, and it also had a silhouette of a dragon, much like this one. There were a few differences, though.

It's wings were much larger, but the head was a bit rounder. It seemed to be alive, too, as it flapped it's wings and flew toward me. This dragon also was giant. Much bigger then a picture on a small book.

Strangely, I wasn't afraid of it.

**"You'll probably think I'm crazy or something," Cheri murmurred, "but when I had my spirit sucked out of me, during the time, I forgot all my memories. I remembered in the end, of course, but this really big dragon started to fly at me." **

**Ryou smiled just the slightest bit as his suspicions were confirmed. **

I think I should have, of course. Any normal person would be by that time, but between falling in love with an alien and getting my spirit sucked out of me, I was pretty sure I had established myself as a very odd person.

The dragon came closer, and I could make out details. I saw that the creature had deep red, comforting eyes and leathery skin. There was also a huge tail that I couldn't believe that I had missed before.

_I didn't know I had such a good imagination..._

It suddenly flew straight up, and then dived right at me.

_What is it doing!?! _

**"The dragon somehow went inside of me." She looked around, trying to make sure none of them were going to laugh at her. **

**They all looked very serious. **

**Then again, they had listened to the whole alien story and none of them had said she was mental. Of course, Cheri had said they were the Mew Mews and none of them had denied it. She was hopeful. Maybe she wasn't going crazy.**

I felt a surge of power, and for a moment, everything seemed much brighter. Then, it was over as suddenly as it came.

The sparkling flashes suddenly became much more colorful. I could see almost every dark color there was.

Another silohuette formed. I looked at it in surprise.

This one had a human shape, and was just a tiny bit taller then her. I could tell it was a she, because of her long hair and curvy shape. Her eyes were glowing a dark red.

She also flew closer to me, and I spotted ears like Kish's on her.

_An alien? I don't want one of those going inside me! _

I stared at her for several seconds and she didn't say anything. To my surprise, I saw that the girl looked a lot like me.

_What the hell is going on? _

She had on a short silky skirt and a top with straps that tied behind her neck. I couldn't tell what color they were; everything I saw seemed to be tinted with black. Her shoes were made of soft flimsy material. Ribbons were flowing from behind her skirt.

The alien girl suddenly flew at me very fast, and merged inside me. Again I felt a surge of power.

**"An alien went inside of me, too," Cheri said softly. Her tears were now all dried up. **

**"You know, I probably shouldn't keep on talking... I bet you all think I'm crazy..." Cheri trailed off. **

**"No!" Ryou said loudly. Cheri looked at him, a bit confused at his tone. **

**"Please, continue. I'm sure I can explain all this later," He said a bit more quietly. **

**Cheri looked even more bewildered, but continued. **

Then, everything turned black.

* * *

"Ugh... That was a strange dream!" I said as I rubbed my eyes. 

I felt the cold metal benath me and tried to get up.

_Wait! Cold metal?_

"Oh no! That dream was real!" I whispered to myself, taking in the room.

The walls were all a cold silvery color, and it appeared that I was in some kind of storage room. Many odd things were around me.

I tried to distract myself from everything by looking at the stuff.

**"I woke up in this room. It seemed like a storage room, kind of. There was all this stuff in it."**

I stood up, and walked to one of the boxes made of silver material. Inside there were many odd things. A few were jars, and had a gloppy substance inside, and some metal parts inside.

I examined another container, seeming to contain clothes for the aliens. I unfolded a few of them, just to see what kind of things aliens wore.

There was a folder of stuff on one of the metal shelves, and I opened it. Inside were many papers.

A few I saw I could read, but others were in languages, completely unidentifiable to me.

The paper, I observed, seemed different to me, too. It was a bit thicker then normal paper, and when I touched it, a green outline surrounded my hand, all the text parted around my hand, and became smaller.

I was just a bit surprised. After all, they were aliens, weren't they? They were bound to have technology humans didn't.

The papers I could read I read to myself. Those that were written in english all were written on real paper.

_so to complete the MMProject, special precautions must be taken. Test subject must have compatiable DNA. Test 1 has had successful results. Injection is compatitable. Must find all five compatiables._

_5x 3-697m(453428a) h compatitable part 1 _

_K5 + 98325m -4236 (6793L) h E compatible part 1 _

_Chromosone 37 must be in compatiblity. _

_DNA area 3452 and DNA area 2934 must mesh together. _

_Injection must contain exactly five ml of dose number 53. _

_Injection gene 6 must contain exactly 21(variable q) ml of dose number 24._

I looked at it, confused, and moved on to another box of stuff.

**"I looked through their stuff." **

**"What did you find?" Ryou asked. **

**_This might be important to defeating the aliens_, he thought. **

**"I saw some gooey stuff in jars... There was some clothes and papers, too," Cheri said, wondering why it mattered. **

**"Oh... Well, never mind."**

As I was looking through another pile of stuff, someone's hand touched my shoulder.

"AAAAH!" I shrieked, as soon as the cold hand touched me. I whirled around.

It was Kish.

"Take me back!" I shouted at him, "NOW!"

He floated a couple steps backward, obviously not expecting the outburst.

I had been all sad before, but now that he was here, my anger flared up.

"I hate you, I hate you, I HATE YOU!" I yelled at him, livid. I knew that getting mad wasn't the answer, but I needed an outlet for all my saddness.

Random things found themselves being chucked at Kish, before he could say anything.

"You-" A box of papers hit his head. Kish put his hands up in defense.

"The-" A bucket hit his knee.

"Ther-" A jar of goo hit his head and surprisingly to me, bounced off.

Satisfaction coursed through me with each item that hit Kish's head.

**"Later Kish came, but I started to throw a bunch of stuff at him." **

He became very irritated, and suddenly appeared right behind me, grabbing one of my wrists. My other hand held a long metal stick in mid-throw.

I spun around in surprise, then masking my face again in fury, I started to use the long metal stick to prod him.

"_**STOP **_-ow-_**IT!**_" Kish shouted while being prodded.

I ignored him, and in desperation, he disappeared. I dropped the metal bar. For a few minutes I stood there.

My hands were clenched so tightly that my knuckles were white.

I sat down, and tears slowly found their way down my face. Slowly, with my back to the door and my head on my arms, I drifted off to a uneasy sleep with dried tears.

* * *

**"I fell asleep, and then I woke up in another room, with the guy called Pai." **

I woke up, stiff, in a corner.

Opening my eyes, I saw that I was in another windowless room, this time with Pai in it.

He was looking at me. My eyelids flew closed, pretending I was still asleep, but it was too late.

"Get up," His cold voice ordered.

I obeyed, but with my eyes narrowed at him.

"What do you want with me?" My voice trembled with anger and fear.

He ignored my question.

"Transform," he said, abrupt.

"What?"

_What the heck?!? Did I hear right?_

I stared at him, perplexed.

"You hear me. Transform."

_He wants me to transform like some dinky hero on tv?_

I was more confused then ever in my life.

"Perhaps you need a initiative." His smile was cold.

Pai pushed one of the buttons on the wall.

**"He told me to transform, but I had no idea what he meant."**

One of the walls to my left suddenly lifted up, and I saw there was a wide hallway from it.

Suddenly, a giant menacing creature that only slightly resembled a wasp flew into the room.

**"So he let in a huge creature thing that attacked me." **

I froze. The wasp buzzed.

It flew straight at me.

An instinct triggered inside of me. On impulse I concentrated my energy and closed my eyes.

Panic rushed through me, but somehow I relaxed.

_What am I doing? _

Then, just before the bug hit me, I opened my eyes and held out my right hand. I vaguely noticed that my eyesight seemed clearer and the strand of hair I brushed from my face was much longer then it had been.

A red staff appeared in my hand, and I held it right in front of me, pointing the top at the creature.

"Nagareboshi bakufuu!" I shouted.

The creature propelled itself into the tip of the staff, just as a red beam emitted from it.

Dust came from all sides as the giant wasp dropped dead onto the floor.A hole had been blasted right through it.

**"I killed the creature..."**

I noticed Pai standing some distance away. He had been watching the whole time.

"Nice job. My plan worked perfectly, though your transformation was not the one I suspected would happen. Nevertheless, it'll do."

For the first time, I noticed in the reflective metal walls, that I had changed.

There was a sharp intake of breath from me.

**"...but I had turned into an alien."**

I now had pale white skin, ebony colored hair, and unatural near-black eyes. My hair was much longer, almost to my waist, and it cascaded from my head in layers. Pale large ears stuck out of my hair. I wore a red top with straps tying behind my neck with a ruffled black skirt. Long white strips of cloth covered part of my arms, and also part of my legs. My shoes were black and cushiony. Floating ribbons came from behind me.

In other words, I had became an alien. More specifically, the one in my dream that merged with me.

_Oh no. _

I was horrified. There was no way I could be an alien.

Pai noticed my expression.

"You're now one of us."

I closed my eyes.

_Go away, go away, go away! Please don't let me be an alien! _

I opened my eyes, crossing my fingers mentally.

When I looked at my reflection in the shiny metal, I was relieved to see that I was human again.

That didn't account for the dead wasp in the middle of the floor, or the smirking purple-haired alien, though.

* * *

"I refuse, I refuse! I absoulutely will never turn into an alien again!" I shouted at the extremely annoyed Tart through the bars of my cell. 

The last few days had been pure hell. Soon after the first-and last- time transforming, Pai had left the room, and knockout gases had made me drift off to sleep.

**"They kept trying to get me to turn into an alien. I refused."**

As soon as I woke up, the three aliens had been peering at me like I was some science experiment. Extremely annoyed and aggravated at them, I had given Kish a bloody nose and the other two numerous bruises before they had gotten me in some kind of circular cell.

The three started to ask -or rather, order- me routinely to transform. When it was Kish's turn to ask me, I ignored him, trying not to cry. Whenever Tart ordered me, the result had always been in an angry exchange of insults. Whenever Pai asked me, I ignored him, indifferent.

Sometimes I could hear them from other rooms discussing me. They were angry at my lack of cooperation, and Tart would always propose to torture me or something. The other two, who were more level-headed but still crazy, would worry about doing that to someone who was 'one of them' and was going to be on 'their side'.

Often, Pai would mention that he was getting no where with his 'research'. He would also go on about how I had never yet transformed into my other 'state'.

I was a bit baffled when I first heard of this, but I wasn't stupid. It was obvious to me that my dream had something to do with everything. I had transformed once into the alien girl in my dream, and the only other creature in my dream was the dragon.

I was a bit more curious about my supposed dragon state, so once in a while when the aliens weren't watching, I tried to concentrate into turing into one. It never did work.

Today, it was the fifth time that Tart had came to order me to transform.

"NO!"

"YES!"

"NO!"

"YES!"

"SHRIMP!" I knew that I had hit a nerve when one on Tart's face started to throb.

"IDIOT!"

"PIPSQUEAK!"

"STUPID!"

"MIDGET!"

"THAT"S IT!!!" Tart yelled at me.

He stormed-floated angrily to a table with buttons, and pushed one.

_Maybe I've gone a little too far..._

Green smoke started to fill the cell.

I tried to hold my breath in so I didn't breathe in the gas, but it didn't work.

Instead, I held my hands over my nose, so at least I would have a little air.

Gradually, I began to feel like something was choking me.

Tart smirked at me.

"That'll teach you to mess with me!"

I slowly fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

I awoke in the wet grass. My vision seemed blurry. 

_What? _

I slowly got up.

My eyesight slowly cleared, and I saw that Tart was hovering near me. I seemed to be in a park.

"You know what? I'm tired of you!" He shouted at me childishly.

"Okay..." I muttered to myself.

"Pai keeps telling me to get you to transform, but nothing works! So unless you do that right now, I'll guess I'll have to do it the hard way."

Still defiant, I shook my head no.

Suddenly, roots started to grow under me.

Unbalanced, I tried to run the other way, but they grab my feet.

Soon, I was stuck, roots binding me.

"Chimera Masshuru-Mu! Attack!"

A white figure started to plod towards me.

_A... A mushroom? _

I started to laugh.

"A mushroom?"

"Attack!" He shouted indigantly at the fungus.

It fell over.

Laughter from me started to increase.

"Gah..." He muttered to himself angrily.

The roots started to tighten. Other roots started to whip at me.

"Chimera shokubutsu!"

Suddenly, one of the plants started to grow. It got higher and bigger.

It had no eyes, just a green mouth full of teeth.

"Attack!"

A green ball of energy started to form in it's mouth. It crackled with electricity.

**"The midget alien and I got in an arguement. He got me to this park somehow, and his creatures started to attack me." **

The ball of energy hit me. I refused to scream or cry.

It happened again and again.

"Transform already!"

I shook my head no weakly.

_I won't transform into an alien! I don't want to help them destroy the world!_

Each time it felt like I was being torn out of my skin. I was afraid if I did turn into an alien, I would have their instincts and go to their side.

Another bolt hit me. Somehow, it felt much worse.

I blacked out from the pain.

**"I fainted, and the next thing I know, here I am. **

* * *

**I hate it when I have to type everything over again because the site logs me out! Yeah. The last bit felt a bit weak hearted to me. Oh well. I have a ton of homework now; that's why I haven't been updating lately.**

**Hope you like the chapter! Please _review_!**


	8. Hiding Secrets

**Thanks to xMew Ichigox, Moonlight Kris, Angel and Trenna for reviewing! I appreciate it a lot. **

**I'm sorry for not updating sooner. Homework and lots of other stuff have been keeping me busy. I have like, fifty emails in each of my email inboxs when I check them everyday. And I have four email address, plus a bunch of other stuff that lets people email. **

**Good news... I just got my drawing tablet! For those of you who don't know, it's thing where you draw on it and it goes straight into the computer. That's another reason I haven't been updating... I'm busy drawing. Also, one of my other favorite shows, Avatar: The Last Airbender is premiering and stuff so I've been busy watching that. **

**Yeah... Lame excuses, I know. Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

It's been a couple weeks since I found Cheri in the park. 

When she had been telling us what happened to her, my heart just went out to her. I felt so bad. Ryou explained to her about being a mew, and what she was.

Masha gave Cheri a pendant. Pudding wanted Cheri to transform, but Lettuce convinced Pudding that Cheri needed some alone time. I agreed. At the time, Cheri was still injured.

And then, when Cheri got home she found out that her grandmother had died the day the aliens had kidnapped Cheri. Apparently most people had ran away when the oxygen level had become too high for them. They had started coughing and realized something was wrong with the air.

Cheri's grandmother was rather frail, however, and her lungs couldn't take it. She died.

How much more heartbreak could Cheri take?

Keiiricho arranged the funeral, and all of us went.

"Hey Ichigo," Cheri had said quietly when I arrived.

Her eyes were red and swollen from crying. She wore all white, going with the old Japanese tradition. Cheri stood out amongst the crowd. Most were wearing black, being more modern.

"Hi Cheri. I'm so sorry for your grandma."

"Yeah..." She trailed off and switched tones. "Thanks for coming, though."

Not many people were at the funeral. Only us Mews, Ryou, Keiiricho, a few friends of Cheri's grandma and Cheri's friends.

A girl decked out in black came up to Cheri. I didn't know who she was.

"Listen, Cheri, I'm really sorry about your grandma. I understand why you haven't been at school for the last couple of weeks. Your grandma was a really nice person."

"Thanks Kiwi," Cheri said softly, "It means a lot to me." Another girl also walked to Cheri.

"I'm really sorry." The girl said quite simply. Her pale blond, almost white hair sashayed under a black veil.

"Thanks Vanilla."

_It's nice to know that Cheri has such nice friends. _

I inwardly smiled inspite of the occasion. Cheri's friends seemed very supportive. It made me think of my other friends, the ones who weren't Mews. Moe and Miwa. It had been a long time since I've done anything with them. I mentally told myself to pay more attention.

Kiwi looked quizically at me.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Ichigo, this is Kiwi and Vanilla. Kiwi, Vanilla, this is Ichigo," Cheri quickly said, just noticing that I was still next to her.

The two girls quickly nodded their heads hello to me.

I nodded back.

It made me sad in a way, to see Cheri with her friends. Ryou had told Cheri very firmly that she was not to tell anyone about the Mew Mews. She would have to hide secerts from them, just like I was doing to my friends and all the other Mews did. Her friends wouldn't be there for such a big part of Cheri's life. They would never know their friend's biggest secret of all.

Just like Moe and Miwa.

* * *

**Yes, I know it's short. Probably the shortest chapter I've written. It's the most I can come up for right now, though. And no, Kiwi and Vanilla will not become Mew Mews. I'd be going way overboard if I did that. Their character will develop later in the story, but they'll only have minor parts. I'm going to try and focus on the other characters later in the story. I really don't want this to be all about Cheri. Anyway, hoped you liked it.**

**Review!!!**


	9. Decision

**Yay! 35 reviews! I know, I'm pathetic. Thanks to Trenna, You Know Who (Yes I do know who), Jacob, Mew Mew spotted-dick, Moonlit-Kris, Sterling Fire Kittie and xMew Ichigox. It doesn't take a lot to make me happy. ;)**

**Hope you like the chappie!**

* * *

I whirled around and shouted, "Ribbon Lettuce Rush!" 

Streams of water blasted at the gooey Chimera Anima. The instant it was preoccupied with the water, a yellow jello covered it. Unable to move, it gurgled around uselessly. Zakuro whipped the monster to pieces, and from Mint came perfectly aimed blue darts of light, hitting each glob of the Chimera Anima. Ichigo finished it off the remains with her Strawberry Surprise.

Tart's face was flushed red at how easily we killed his Chimera Anima.

"I'll get you next time!" He yelled uselessy, teleporting away.

"Good job!" Ryou's voice came out of Masha, "You're getting stronger all the time, and we might possibly still have our secret weapon. I think we might drive those aliens away soon."

Ryou, of course, was talking about Cheri. The aliens didn't know that she was currently siding with us. And they didn't know that we knew about Cheri, either.

"Wouldn't they be able to track her down with DNA scans or something?" Ichigo had asked a few days ago.

"No, because Cheri had her infusion only a few days before we found her. During that time, her DNA was a bit shaky because of the change. Even if they took a sample from her, it isn't likely to match the coding of her DNA at the present time. The aliens will most logically assume that Cheri ran away from Toyko and is somewhere on the other side of the world trying to forget all about them."

"They're going to find out about her, sooner or later," I had said quietly. Ichigo nodded in agreement.

Ryou sighed, "I know. We have to tell Cheri. She has two choices. I can send her to another country for her safety, or we can let out the secret and openly attack the aliens."

"When will we tell her?" Zakuro's cold voice had interruped into the converstation.

"Two days; on Thursday."

Today is Thursday.

* * *

I hurried to the Cafe. Ryou called for a meeting today. Of course, everyone knew what it was going to be about, except for Cheri and Pudding. Pudding hadn't been there during our converstation.

My green braids blew in the wind as I ran up the pathway to Cafe Mew Mew.

I opened the door. A 'Closed' sign hanged on the polished door knob.

Everyone was already sitting in chairs. I blushed as I realized I thought late.

"Gomen nasai!"

"It's perfectly fine Lettuce. You aren't late. Everyone just got her a bit earlier." Keiiricho pulled up a chair for me.

"Thanks." I muttered, my face still a bit red.

I sat down on the chair, next to Ichigo and Cheri. Cheri looked a bit nervous, not understanding why everyone was looking at her.

"So. We're here to discuss our situtation with Cheri," Ryou announced.

She looked alarmed.

"Cheri, you have two choices. First, we can send you to another country for your safety. You'll eventually be able to get used to it, and your life will return to normal. It'll be unlikely you'll see any of us again. Second, you can stay and fight. While this will help us a lot, it will also be very dangerous. You could die."

Cheri looked down at her hands. Two minutes of silenced passed.

_Poor Cheri. There's so much pressure on her! If I had the choice, what would I chose? _

I thought for a minute. Then I realized I had already made my choice.

_I'm a Mew. If I wanted to leave, I would have done so earlier._

Finally, Cheri started to speak.

"I'll fight. Those aliens killed my grandmother and ripped my life apart. It won't happen to anyone else.I'll make sure of that**."**

Pudding was etastic.

"Na no da! I have a new friend na no da!"

Ichigo and I hugged Cheri.

"I'm glad! We have a new team member," Ichigo said to Cheri.

I smiled. Cheri had made the same decision as I did.

* * *

**Hoped you liked the chapter!**

**Gomen Nasai- I'm so sorry **

**Another rather short one. It's quite important to the plot, though. **

**Review!!**


	10. Forget and Remember

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed!**

**Guess Who- Thanks for reviewing! And yes, I know who. Hope you can join fanfiction!**

**Misha12-Thanks for you're reviews! They're always fun to read.**

**Moonlight-Kris-Yes, I know, I'm keeping you on a cliff. Whether it's IchigoXKish or CheriXKish will be reveiled later!**

**xMew Ichigox-Thanks a million! **

**You may have noticed if you have this story on story alert, you recieved two story alerts. That's because on chapter 6, I decided to delete part of the author's notes because it was very personal. I hope those of you who haven't read the chapter 6 author notes before it was edited aren't mad or anything. It's just I didn't really want to broadcast those certain things to the entire world. Thanks for understanding! **

**Hope you enjoy the chapter! **

* * *

Cheri slowly pulled the soft blanket over her. Tomorrow would be her first day back to school after the aliens had kidnapped her. 

She laid there, with a warm glow casted on her face from the lamp. Thoughts ran through her head, until Cheri was throughly tired of thinking. The lamp was quickly shut off.

The bedroom she was sleeping in had plain white walls, a bed and a desk. It was on the third floor of the Mew Mew Cafe, almost directly above Ryou's room.

The desk was right below a window, which showed the moonlit sky. The room wasn't very clean, as Cheri was a rather messy person when it came to her room. While it was not _sloppy,_ as in clothes all over the floor, her closet was rather unkept and the desk was piled with books and papers. On the very top of the mound of stuff was a journal. Specifaclly, Cheri's private diary. It contained all her thoughts and secerts, faithfully written in every day, except for days such as when Kish kidnapped her.

Cheri had many of these. She had started them three years ago, and now had five journals filled. The style of the writing varied. In the beginning, she would carefully record what happened every single day. A while later, Cheri would jot down in short phrases what happened that particular day. Now, her writing was free and flowing. Spelling and grammar were not concerns voiced in her diary. Her current one was tan colored with small blue flowers on the cover. It was filled with poems, unlike her previous diaries. The journal was opened to the most recent page, written by Cheri just that evening.

_Remember and Forget_

_Forget that you were there for me_

_Forget how you were the one_

_Forget how kind you were to thee_

_Remember when you were gone_

_Forget your shining smile_

_Forget your warm touch_

_Forget how you went the extra mile_

_Remember the tears you caused_

_Forget your heartfelt goodbyes_

_Forget how you made me soar_

_Forget your twinkling eyes_

_Remember when my heart tore_

* * *

**Hope you liked the chapter! Yes, rather short I know. I wrote the poem, and it just seemed to fit the story rather well, so I added it in this chapter.**

**Anyway, I just came back from this field trip from the zoo. It was a lot of fun, and I got to sleep by the mantees. My friend kept on taking embrassing pictures of my teacher! It was very funny. **

**There was this place on the way back from the zoo that we passed. It was actually one of those 'gentlemen clubs', with 'exotic dancers'. And the knight statue in the front wasn't wearing pants... Lol! You know what I mean, right? ;) Ha!**

**Hoped you like the chapter. Review! I would like to know what you thought about the chapter. And remember, people who aren't members of this site can review too!**


	11. School Day

**Thanks to MewMew spotted-dick, Misha12, You know who I am, xMew Ichigox, Trenna, Sterling Fire Kittie, and Moonlit-Kris for reviewing! I really appreciate it! **

**-Hands cookie to all reviewers- **

**Okay, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Kish looked at the girl's locker room. He was busy looking for a certain girl. That was about the time Pai popped up next to him.

"Kish!" He whisper-yelled, "Why are you here? You're supposed to be looking for the dragon-mew!"

"I am!" Kish smirked slightly.

_And Ichigo in the shower..._

"Ignoramus…" Pai muttered under his breath. **(I think there were also some alien swear words after that, but we can't repeat those. .) **

"Hey, look over there!"

Kish floated over to the window above a basketball hoop. There were many girls in gym uniforms playing volleyball. He noticed that a certain girl was playing very well. She also looked rather confused with herself.

"Is that her?"

"Yes. We have found our target."

The air swirled slightly, and the two aliens disappeared.

Behind them, a dirty-blond girl looked perplexed at herself. It must've been the heat, she said to herself. After all, there were no such things as aliens, and if there were, they, of course, wouldn't look as good as the one with green hair.

* * *

Cheri was very confused. It was during a volleyball game, and somehow her team actually seemed to be _winning._

Even more bewildering, it seemed to be her who was causing the team to win.

Usually, she was one of the worst players. Today however, she was spiking the ball with ease, and seemed to be everywhere.

"Geez, Cheri, that break from school seemed to make you a lot better at volleyball."

Something clicked in her head.

Of course! Ever since Cheri had been kidnapped by those aliens and turned into a mew, she had been getting stronger. This was just the first time she actually realized it.

The whistle blew, and all the girls went back inside the gym, to the locker rooms. A few of them congratulated Cheri on scoring so many points.

Physical Education was her last class, so she quickly changed and grabbed her backpack.

"Hey Cheri! I've never seen you so good in any sport!" A voice from behind said.

Cheri was startled, and relaxed slightly when she saw it was just Kiwi.

"Oh, hey Kiwi. Where's Vanilla?"

"Right here!" Vanilla's head popped up right behind Kiwi.

"Hey Vanilla."

"I'm glad you're back in school," Vanilla said, "Want to walk home with us?"

"Sure!"

On the way home, of course, Kiwi was reading a book about dragons. And talking about them.

"Obsessed, much?" Vanilla whispered to Cheri as Kiwi again buried her nose in the book.

Kiwi heard.

"Hey!"

"Yeah?"

"That's not very nice!"

"But it's true…"

Cheri rolled her eyes. This was what happened every time.

_Maybe I can get some information out of Kiwi. After all, it would be nice to know about the extinct animal I'm fused with. Shouldn't be too hard. _

"Hey, Kiwi, is that book interesting?"

"Yep! It's about the origin of dragons!"

_Of course… _

"So, um, what's it about?"

Kiwi thought for a minute, then snapped her fingers.

"Well, there are several different dragons, each representing a different quality. Fire is courage, water is speed, earth is gentle, ice is ferocity, light is goodness, dark is wisdom, and wind, ah, wind is LIFE! Without it we wouldn't be here!"

"Okay… Um, like what do they look like?"

Kiwi showed her a picture in the book with all seven dragons. Cheri immediately spotted the one that she had seen in her vision before.

It was one of the larger ones, with fierce horns and powerful talons. Under it, it was labeled fire.

"Uh, do they have any like scientific qualities?"

_Okay… That was a stupid question. As far as Kiwi knows, they're mystical. _

"Yeah! I've read every single one!"

_Where does she get those?_

"I even have a pet dragon! It's name is Gengi!" Kiwi whistled.

_What?!? _

Then, her backpack unzipped by it's self, and a small green creature came flying out. It had sharp talons, and wings the size of Cheri's palm.

Cheri's mouth dropped open.

"B-B-But…"

_Ryou and Keiiricho told me they were extinct! How come Kiwi has one?_

"Why didn't you ever mention this to me?" Said Cheri, shocked.

Vanilla finally spoke.

"She just got it last week, and wanted to show him to you at your grandmother's funeral."

Cheri winced slightly at the mention of her grandmother.

Kiwi noticed, and glared at Vanilla for bringing it up.

"But I decided it wasn't a good time to show you him. Gengi was priced quite high," Kiwi said.

"Where'd you get him?" Cheri asked, still shocked.

_I have to find out who's selling dragons… _

"At the Nikamoshi Robotics."

_Ohh… So it's a robot. _

"So it's not real?"

Vanilla laughed at Cheri, "Of course it's not real!"

Kiwi started to laugh too.

"Even I know dragons aren't real! That's crazy! I wish they were real, of course, but they're not. I mean, if I thought they were actually real, than people would put me in a mental institute!"

Cheri started to laugh nervously.

"Yeah. Of course! I was just being dumb."

"So what can Gengi do?" Cheri said, distracting them with the question.

"Well, he can-" Kiwi never got to finish her answer.

Suddenly, people started screaming. A giant mutant bird came running, tearing up trees as it went along.

Vanilla's eyes were frantic, and the three of them started to run. They ducked into the nearest ally, and ran, hoping the creature wouldn't find them.

The friends ran into a dead end.

"No!" Vanilla moaned, "The thing is going to eat us!"

"Be quiet!" Kiwi hissed at her, "I don't see it right now, so maybe it can't find us."

Cheri panted, catching her breath. She leaned onto the wooden fence that blocked their way.

Right in front of Cheri, the air distorted, and a certain green haired alien stepped out.

* * *

**Dun dun dun! What will happen next? **

**Oh yeah, the dirty-blond (means brownish yellow hair) girl I mention, that's my friend. Let's say she's rather _attached _to Kish. **

**I had a bit of help on this chapter from my friend. Thanks! You know who you are!**

**Remember to review!**


	12. Battle

**Sorry for not updating sooner! **

**I had so many reviews this time! **

**Thanks Lunarlullaby13, xMew Ichigox, Sterling Fire Kittie, DayDreamer9, Moonlit-Kris, Mew Mew spotted dick, Sakura/Hoot, x-year-of-the-cat-girl-x, BigGirlSarah, Flying-Freedom and Hallows07 for reviewing!**

**I passed the fifty reviews mark! Yay me! .**

**Aiming for a hundred now, but I'll bet that'll take at least ten more chapters. Actually, I might never reach that goal, but it doesn't hurt to hope. **

**I know I left you readers on a cliffy last time. Enjoy!**

* * *

_Right in front of Cheri, the air distorted, and a certain green haired alien stepped out._

Cheri stood there, petrified. She was frozen, both inside and out.

_No, please not him! Tell me this is a dream! _

Kish swooped down, floating.

"Hello, ladies," He smirked at my friends and I. Kiwi and Vanilla stood there, staring at him. Expressions of confusion and fear crossed their faces.

_What will I do? If I transform into a Mew, Kiwi and Vanilla will know! If I don't, then Kish will kill them, and who knows what they'll do to me? _

A second passed, and Cheri made her decision.

_I'm sure Vanilla and Kiwi can keep a secret._

"Mew Mew Cherry Metamorphosis!" A red glow surrounded Cheri, and the rest of the world became a haze of iridescent stars to her.

* * *

Ichigo happily hummed to herself as she skipped, swinging a pink bag. She had just found the most delicious chocolates in the new bakery store, and they were going to be so good to eat! True, they had been rather expensive, but she had been able to afford them. 

Ichigo ducked into an alleyway, and started to run. Once in a while she got down on all fours and sprinted like a cat. It was a much faster way of getting somewhere. Ryou had said never to do this, in case someone saw. Ichigo dismissed his warning. After all, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him!

Her cat ears and tail popped up suddenly, as she skidded to a stop in front of a dead end. Ichigo shrugged to herself, and started to climb the wooden fence.

Just then, her alert cat ears heard a distant voice crying, "Mew Mew Cheri Metamorphosis!"

_That must be Cheri! We haven't had a battle yet, and she doesn't know her powers. She must be in trouble!_

Ichigo flipped open her pink cell phone, and called Lettuce.

"Hello?" Lettuce's quiet voice came through the phone.

"Hi Lettuce. Cheri's in trouble. She's transforming. Get the other Mews, okay? Bye!" She closed her cell phone.

Ichigo quickly climbed over the fence, and ran in the direction of Cheri's voice.

* * *

The red glow that was around Cheri quickly cleared, and she realized that all her clothes had changed, plus a pair of dragon wings sprouted from her back. Her hands became a lot like claws. She marveled at her outfit for a second, then quickly turn her focus back to Kish. 

_Now's not the time to be thinking about what I'm wearing..._

Behind her she heard gasps from her two friends.

"Cheri's a mew!"

"I knew dragons were real! I never doubted it for a second!" This, of course, came from Kiwi. Vanilla rolled her eyes.

Cheri's confidence wavered as she looked at Kish. His golden eyes bore into her. How could she attack him? Even if her heart had been crushed by him, a tiny part of her still liked him. Cheri shook her head. She knew that was true, but he was threatening her friends, and the entire planet. No matter how much she didn't want to fight, she still had to.

Cheri listened to the words coming from her heart.

"Ruby Cherry Staff!" A red staff appeared in her hands. On the top was a cherry, with a miniature ruby dragon perched on top of it. Dark red ribbons cascaded from the dragon's wings.

Kish smirked at her, then said, "Let's see if you can beat the Chimera Anima!"

Without missing a beat, Cheri jumped and swung her staff at Kish. She narrowly missed him, as he teleported to the top of a nearby building. Just then, Ichigo flipped over the fence, landing on her feet in front of Vanilla and Kiwi.

"Need some help?" Ichigo said as she ran up to Cheri.

"Thanks!" Cheri smiled.

"Strawberry Bell Bell! Okay, since you have wings, you can go for the head and I'll attack the legs. That should keep it occupied until the other mews come."

"Okay. Let's do it!" Cheri said.

She hesitantly flapped her wings. It felt weird, as if she had grown an extra arm or something. Then, with a surge of courage she flew into the sky.

"Ribbon Cherry Blast!" Dark red shards came from the staff and embedded themselves in the monster.

* * *

_Cheri's doing a good job, _Ichigo thought as she dodged the Chimera Anima's feet. 

_Her outfit is so cute! _

Cheri had her hair up in a red bow. She was wearing a strapless red top, like Ichigo's. That was about the only similarity. Cheri also had on a long flaring skirt with a slit, much less revealing then what the other Mews wore. Like the other Mews, she had armlet sleeves, but unlike them, hers were much longer and the cloth went all the way to her hands.

"Strawberry Surprise!" Ichigo shouted. Rays of light pierced the Chimera Anima, though they only caused minor scratches.

_This one is strong... _

From behind her, she heard, "Ribbon Mint Echo!"

_Good, they're here!_

* * *

With the rest of the Mew Mews there, the six of them finished off the Chimera Anima rather quickly. Cheri was rather impressed at how all the Mews listened to Ichigo. She could see how everyone wanted to be friends with her. 

_She's the leader._

Kish had teleported away, smirking at her. Cheri was infuriated. They had won, and he had lost. Why was he acting like he knew something she didn't?

When the Mews finally remembered Vanilla and Kiwi, they found them chattering excitedly.

"If Cheri's a Mew, maybe I am too!"

"Yeah! Quick! Do I have a unicorn horn on my face?"

When the two saw Cheri, they began babbling about how she was so cool, and how the fight was so exciting.

"Uh... Could you stop? Yeah... Um, you do know you're not suppose to tell anyone about this right?"

"Of course not!"

"We would never!"

* * *

"Perfect... Our plan is in check," Pai said.

"Hah, the girl thought she had won the battle. She's falling into our trap."

Kish smirked.

* * *

**What'd Kish do to Cheri? Find out in the next chapter! . **

**Thanks for reading! Reviews are always greatly appreciated!**


	13. Sleepless Nights

**I'm once again sorry for not updating sooner! **

**Thanks to Misha12, Sakura, Mew Kool Kat, Moonlit-Kris, xMew Ichigox, ThatHyperGirlFromEnglish, DayDreamer9, and Blue Amytal Cherub for reviewing! I really appreciated it! **

**72 reviews in total now! Maybe I will get to my goal of 100...**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

_"Hah, the girl thought she had won the battle. She's falling into our trap."_

_Kish smirked._

* * *

Cheri looked in the mirror unhappily. She was dressed in a cafe uniform. It was the same as everyone else's, but in a deep red. 

_It's so frilly! How could anyone wear this and not puke?_

Cheri sighed, then walked into the kitchen. She quickly put on a false smile and got a platter of sweets to serve to a customer.

"Good job, Cheri," Ryou said, passing her.

"Hey! She just got here, and you say she's doing a good job. I've been working my butt off over here for three hours!" Ichigo said, frustrated.

"Well, maybe Cheri's doing a better job even if it's only been a couple of minutes," Ryou smirked, then walked away.

"Ugh! I can't take this anymore!" Ichigo slammed down a tray. Several people stared at her. Ichigo blushed, then quickly set the tray down on another customer's table.

"Is it always like this?" Cheri whispered to Lettuce.

"Yes, every single day. You'll get used to it."

* * *

Pai pressed a few buttons on his keypad, and a revolving orb floated in front of him as it warped and changed color. 

"All right. That should do it."

"Are you sure? That doesn't look very powerful," Tart said skeptically, swinging his legs while sitting on a table.

"It'll work," Pai answered. He then directed his attention to Kish.

"You better not mess up this mission," Pai said, grabbing the now black glowing orb and tossing it to Kish.

"Don't worry. I won't." Kish disappeared.

* * *

Cheri sighed as she scribbled down some notes. School was so boring! She couldn't think of a single instant where she would have to use all this math in real life. At least this was the last class of the day. 

Either way, she tried to pay attention. The margins of her notebook were all doodled on.

Finally, after a long grueling hour, the bell rang and class was dismissed.

"Hey Cheri." Cheri looked up to see a boy with brown hair and gray-blue eyes.

"Oh, hi Tatsuya," she said. Tatsuya was a childhood friend of hers. However, when both grew older, they had both become very busy. Cheri and Tatsuya instant messaged each other to keep in touch.

"You haven't been online," he said. Cheri shouldered her schoolbag.

"Oh, I'm sorry! It's just... Everything's been so rushed lately, and I haven't had time." That was true. Since the aliens kidnapped her, Cheri had forgotten about talking to him. Keeping in touch with a friend paled in comparison with saving the world.

"It's okay. Will you come online tonight?"

"Yeah, I will."

"Okay. See you around." And with that, Tatsuya turned the other way and left.

"So, who was that, your boyfriend?" Cheri turned around, startled, to see Ichigo right behind her. Cheri blushed.

"No! He's just a friend of mine."

"Well, I don't think so. I saw the way he looked at you."

"Don't spy on me!" Cheri tried changing the subject.

"Okay, okay. I was just waiting for you. After all, we Mews have to stick together! Anything could happen."

Ichigo was unaware of how startlingly right she was.

* * *

After a busy day at the Cafe, Cheri and Ichigo were the last to still be in the Cafe. Even Ryou and Keiiricho had left, going to visit a friend. They had left the keys with Ichigo to lock up the Cafe. 

Cheri dumped the dirt on a dustpan into the trash, then turned off all the lights. She grabbed the trash and started to the back door of Cafe Mew Mew. Ichigo would probably be there too, dumping the rest of the trash into the dumpster. The back door was left ajar.

"So, koneko-chan! Are you coming with me or not?" Cheri was startled to hear Kish's voice.

"Kish, I've told you a million times, and it's not going to change. No!" Ichigo sounded tired. Cheri was surprised that Ichigo didn't attack Kish already.

Cheri set the trash bag down, the crept closer to the door.

"Koneko-chan. I don't want to force you to come with me, but you have to!" Cheri then heard a bag being thrown into the dumpster, and then the lid of it slamming shut. Cheri stopped herself from jumping out into the scene.

"Listen, Cheri's still in the Cafe. If she finds out that you're here, she'll attack."

"So you do care for me!"

"Why do you have to twist all my words around? Kish, just leave." Cheri spotted a window which she could see the two through.

"Things are going to change soon, koneko-chan. One day you'll come with me." Ichigo turned around, with her back facing to Kish. She said nothing.

"Alright then, but before I do..." Kish suddenly swept Ichigo up, and kissed her. A hand tried to reach up her skirt, but then Ichigo jerked and slapped his hand.

_I am so glad I hate him now..._ Cheri thought. Kish set Ichigo down gently, then disappeared. She stood there a while, with red spots appearing on her cheeks.

"...hentai..." She finally whispered after a long pause. Ichigo then walked into the Cafe. Cheri ducked quickly behind the door, and Ichigo didn't notice her.

* * *

Cheri sighed as she turned on her computer. As for quite a while now, her grandma wasn't home. And, she never would be again. Sometimes, when Cheri opened the door to her house, she still expected to see her grandma cooking in her dusty white apron, or sweeping the ground, or reading a book. Then, a pang of sadness would hit her as Cheri realized that she wouldn't ever see her grandma again. 

Keiiricho had kindly decided that Cheri wouldn't have to move out of the house. He told Ryou to enter a false record of an aunt living in the house with Cheri into the government records. How he did that in less then a minute, no one would ever know.

Ever since she met the mews, Cheri was having sleepless nights. It was just so hard to fall asleep when you're thinking about saving the world.

A desktop background of cherry blossoms flickered onto the screen. A minute later, a chat box popped up.

**Tatsuya: heyy cheri**

**Cheri: hi tatsuya**

**Tatsuya: so why havent u been on in such a long time?**

**Cheri: my grandma died**

Cheri winced as she typed that. It still hurt to aknowledge it.

**Tatsuya: ohh, im sorry**

**Cheri: thanks**

**Tatsuya: soo, what have u been doing lately?**

**Cheri: not much... i got a job at cafe mew mew**

**Tatsuya: the pink frilly place??!!?**

**Cheri: yea, i know. they pay really well though. and i need the money**

**Tatsuya: still... u said u hated the uniforms**

**Cheri: i do.**

**Tatsuya: oh. **

**Cheri: yeah.**

**Tatsuya: heyy... do u wanna go to the lake with me tomorrow? u no, talk and stuff?**

_Is he asking me out on a date?_

**Cheri: sure**

**Tatsuya: ok, c ya then**

**Cheri: k, good night**

**Tatsuya: good night**

Cheri sighed. With that in her mind, she would have another sleepless night.

* * *

**I'm extremely sorry that I kept all of you waiting so long!**

**hentai-pervert**

**koneko-kitty**

**I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! Remember, REVIEW! )**


	14. A Crystal Necklace

**Thanks to everyone who's reading his!**

**I can't believe it! I haven't written a chapter more than a month! o.0**

**So sorry!!**

**Anyway, enjoy the chapter! **

* * *

"Hi Tatsuya!" Cheri said cheerfully. It was a beautiful day.

"Hi Cheri! I'm glad you came. We haven't done anything together in a while."

Cheri smiled, remembering the days of when they were young. Tatsuya and Cheri used to go exploring in the woods, and had many fun times.

"How have you been?"

"Not that great... I have a lot of new friends now, and everything's confusing."

"Ah... Hope you feel better soon."

"Thanks... So what's up with you?"

"I tried out for the kendo team... I didn't make it though." Tatsuya sort of shrugged.

"That's too bad!" Cheri said.

"It doesn't really matter... My friend was the one who dared me to try out, just to see if I would get on the team."

"Oh," Cheri said.

"So what do you want to do?"

"I dunno..."

"Yeah..."

Cheri looked around the park, looking for something to do. Then, she saw it. The sunshine caught a gleaming light on a tree. It seemed to be embedded in one of the higher branches.

_I wonder what it is..._

Cheri glanced at Tatsuya, and Tatsuya looked right back at her. She could tell that Tatsuya saw it too. A twinkle of challenge shone in his eye.

"First one to reach it gets a favor from the loser."

"You're on." Cheri sprinted as fast as she could, but she doubted that she would reach the tree before Tatsuya. Tatsuya was one fast runner. The bet was still fair, however, since Cheri had much practice with climbing trees.

As predicted, Tatsuya was at the foot of the tree when Cheri was still a few feet behind him. He tried scrambling up the tree, when Cheri started climbing up expertly, planting foot on branch one by one. All of a sudden, she came to a dead end. Other tree limbs were too far away for her to reach. Cheri would have climb back down a few branches and find another way up.

Cheri gave a sigh of frustration, and started to go back down. When she was almost there, Tatsuya surpirsed her by grabbing the gleaming object right before she did. Up close, she could see it looked like a crystal heart hung on a necklace. The ribbon which it hung on was torn into two, tattered and frayed.

* * *

"Wow!" Cheri said, examining it when they were both off the tree, "This looks really expensive. I wonder who's it is."

"It must've been up there for a long time," Tatsuya said thoughtfully, "The ribbon looks very old. And the fact that the heart isn't scratched at all means that it has to be a very hard stone."

"I wonder why it was up there..." Cheri said.

"Someone could've thrown it up there. Or maybe one of those birds that like shiny things did."

"I don't think so. It's a bit heavy for a bird to carry." Tatsuya shrugged.

"It's probably been up there for more than a year."

"Yeah..."

"I'll ask around if anyone lost it," Tatsuya suggested.

"Alright," Cheri said, handing the necklace to Tatsuya.

* * *

**Sorry for the shortness of it! Review!!**


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